It’s that time of year! Winter rains have come, the air is fresh, flowers are beginning to pop, and the days are warm and crisp. It’s the perfect time to look out over your yard and wonder:
“Is it time to finally ditch the turf and bring on the mulch?”
Not only does ditching turf mean less mowing, it also helps keep soil healthy and is a great way to cut back on water use. Sheet mulching is one way to remove it safely without poisonous chemicals!… Read more >>
Trees are amazing living machines– they give us shade, beauty, and food! Some can live for hundreds of years. With a little bit of knowledge, care, and pruning, these trees can provide an abundance of benefits to us and the environment, and enable them to live to their full potential.
Understanding basic pruning principles and proper pruning cuts are helpful in caring for any tree. Remember, pruning, even though beneficial, is wounding the tree. So, be sure to have a reason for each cut that you make.… Read more >>
Down to the last minute for your holiday shopping? Not sure what to get that person who already has everything?
Look no further! Here are some of our favorite beautiful, practical, and climate-conscious gifts for home!
Sustainable gifts help create a better future for us and the lives of generations to come. Plus, who doesn’t want to be the envy of their neighborhood? Be a movement trendsetter!
Here are four unique gift ideas to inspire the climate-fighter in everyone this holiday season:
Rain chains are a beautiful addition to any garden to slow, sink and spread those precious drops back into the ground or a rain tank.… Read more >>
It’s beginning to feel like the holiday season here in Coldwater Canyon Park! The staff here in the Yurt Village loves a good holiday party but year after year we can’t help but notice the needless waste made from all the merry making.
Fortunately, we have discovered some creative ways to have holiday fun without a trail of tinsel bringing us down. Here are some of our favorite ways to green the gifting season.
Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Wrapping
Carefully unwrap presents without tearing the paper so you can reuse it later!… Read more >>
LA really is a special place, and so is its ecology. Our region’s Mediterranean climate brings dry, hot summers and cool, wet winters. This unique climate and landscape is what creates the special conditions that support our city’s animal and plant biodiversity.
Native plants use anywhere from 30 to 90 percent less water than other non-native plant species, and also provide animals with a habitat to call home. Our native plants are beautiful, resilient and useful, and we should celebrate them!… Read more >>
Soil moisture: why is it important for you and and your garden? Why it is important for LA and its issues with the urban heat island effect and other challenges?
Soil, Water, Life
Here at TreePeople, we sometimes wonder where the tree ends and the soil begins. Fallen leaves and branches decompose and create soil, which creates trees, which drop branches and leaves creating more soil.
We also love to think about the tree-water-soil connection. Where does water end and soil or tree begin?… Read more >>
Los Angeles is a very unique place with complex challenges when it comes to both water and climate. Moving toward a more climate-resilient LA is a complicated task with a multitude of paths towards a solution. Looking further into how water is used, either through landscape transformations or how water use will affect local temperatures in the future are a step in the right direction for LA. Thankfully, a study by Professor George Ban-Weiss from the USC Viterbi School of Engineering about how changing from traditional lawns to drought tolerant landscape could have an effect on temperatures in LA has been released to assess if changing to drought tolerant landscaping will change temperatures in LA.… Read more >>
“Flat is so passe…until 1825 it was seldom, if in any year, that the river discharged even during the rainy season its waters into the sea. Instead of having a river way to the sea, the waters spread over the country, filling the depressions in the surface and forming lakes, ponds and marshes. The river water, if any, that reached the ocean drained off from the land at so many places, and in such small volumes, that no channel existed until the flood of 1825, which, by cutting a river way to tide water, drained the marsh land and caused the forests to disappear.”
-Colonel J.… Read more >>
This is the second blog in a three part series. Visit part one here and visit us soon to see the third installment.
Have you seen trees like this in your neighborhood?
Tree topping is a pruning practice that could cause long-term damage to your trees. With that in mind, it’s important to know when and how to prune your trees. While it’s important to check your trees yearly, they don’t necessarily need to be pruned each time!
Summertime is in full effect, which means we’ll all be flocking to the beach here in LA!
While you’re soaking up the sun, you might notice that our oceans are looking extra clear. Studies have shown that our beaches are cleaner during this time of year because of an unintended consequence of the drought– reduced stormwater runoff– keeping pollution, toxins and trash out of our waterways.
Of course, there are other ways to reduce runoff that benefit our city and help fight drought.… Read more >>